The fracture toughness of hot-pressed NbCr₂alloys doped by rare earth yttrium

NbCr2Laves phase alloys doped by rare earth yttrium were fabricated by mechanical alloying and hot pressing. The effect of yttrium addition content on the fracture toughness of these alloys was investigated. The experimental results show that a minor addition of yttrium can refine the microstructure and toughen NbCr2Laves phase. When the content of yttrium in NbCr2is about 0.1 wt.%, the fracture toughness value is increased by about 20%, which is 4 times higher than that of the cast alloy (1.2 MPa m1/2).